She called Giorgia Meloni "truly a Ciociaria, in the most derogatory manner," in a debate at the Pontedera City Council. This led to a controversy that reached Rome, sparked by a Democratic Party councilor, Floriano Della Bella. "They talk all about people, respect, and unity. But then they insult, in one fell swoop, nearly half a million Italians, calling them inferior, ignorant, second-class citizens. But they're the only ones who are ignorant. Long live Ciociaria!" the prime minister reacted.
The Democrats in Frosinone also urged their party colleague to apologize, and those in Pontedera apologized, assuring however that it was "a slip" in which the councilor "pronounced 'ciociara' instead of 'caciarona'."
Nineteen years after Massimo D'Alema used the expression "Ciociaro semi-presidentialism" to attack the center-right in the bicameral commission after the breakdown of the "pie pact" with Silvio Berlusconi, a derogatory reference to the southern Lazio region is back in the political news. It all stemmed from a meeting of the city council of the town in the province of Pisa on September 30th. "A motion on women's freedom and self-determination and the promotion of a culture of respect and equality was being discussed," the local Democratic Party explained, noting the opposition vote of the Brothers of Italy (FdI).
Both he and Della Bella were filmed by the president of the city council, Marco Salvadori, also of the Democratic Party. After days of local skirmishes, the controversy escalated and the video went viral.
"Borgatara, pesciarola, ortolana. And then so much more: 'queen of Coattonia,' 'cow,' 'wide-mouthed frog,' 'b****.' And so on. Over the years," Meloni wrote on social media, "I've received all sorts of epithets. Personal, about my physique, my family, my origins. But today the tone is changing. And the level is changing ." According to the prime minister, "for these gentlemen, being 'Ciociari' is a disgrace, and if you say it to someone, it's tantamount to insulting them. Not only that: it's even a term that shouldn't be used in an institutional setting." The Pontedera Democratic Party, however, rejects the accusations: "Turning a slip of the tongue into a scandal and diverting attention from substantive issues does not do a good service to politics, nor to the quality of public debate."
